Important developments on national bans in the EU

Important developments re. national bans on cultivation of GM crops in the EU
GM-free Ireland Network, 14 April 2011

Better legal protection needed on the use of GMOs on environmental grounds
Euroalert.net, 14 April 2011:
http://euroalert.net/en/news.aspx?idn=12289

Interdiction nationale des OGM : le débat s'ouvre au Parlement européen
Actu-Environnement, 13 April 2011:
http://www.actu-environnement.com/ae/news/possibilite-interdiction-OGM-examen-commission-environnement-parlement-UE-12366.php4#xtor=EPR-1Bisous

EU countries should be able to ban GMOs on environmental grounds MEPs
European Parliament, 13 April 2011:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/en/headlines/content/20110408STO17335/html/EU-countries-should-be-able-to-ban-GMOs-on-environmental-grounds-MEPs

EU lawmakers vote to widen proposed GM crop bans
Reuters, 12 April 2011:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/12/us-eu-gmo-cultivation-idUSTRE73B4DL20110412

MEPs want wider scope for national GMO bans
EU Observer, 12 April 2011:
http://euobserver.com/9/32166

National bans on GMOs: debate launched in the European Parliament
”¢ The Parliament's Environment Committee voted yesterday to give Member States the possibility to ban GMOs on the grounds of their agro-economic and socio-economic impacts. It reinforces the proposal from Brussels, while the Council remains concerned.
Rachida Boughriet
Actu-Environment, 13 April 2011
See english translation below

John Dalli Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy GMOs : towards a better, more informed decision-making process Debate on GMO Risk Assessment and Management
Europa press releases RAPID, 17 March 2011:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/11/187&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN
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National bans on GMOs: debate launched in the European Parliament
”¢ The Parliament's Environment Committee voted yesterday to give Member States the possibility to ban GMOs on the grounds of their agro-economic and socio-economic impacts. It reinforces the proposal from Brussels, while the Council remains concerned.
Rachida Boughriet
Actu-Environment, 13 April 2011:
http://www.actu-environnement.com/ae/news/possibilite-interdiction-OGM-examen-commission-environnement-parlement-UE-12366.php4#xtor=EPR-1Bisous

[English translation courtesy GM-free Ireland]

MEP members of the EU Parliament Environment voted Tuesday 12 April on the European Commission proposal of July 2010, giving member states the possibility to ban the cultivation of GM crops approved in the EU in their territories. The parliamentarians voted on the report by Corrine Lepage MEP (Cap 21, ALDE) by 34 votes in favour, 10 against and 16 abstentions. Last Februrary, the European Commission had published an indicative list of reasons for the restriction of the cultivation of GM crops submitted by each of the member states: ethics, public order, protection of conventional and organic farming, protection of GM-free products, social politics (rural development...), cultural politics (traditional agriculture...), environmental politics.

Facing WTO lawsuits: towards stronger legal protection?

But the MEPs want to go further than the Commission proposal, and they demand that the agro-environmental reasons for [GMO crop] bans can include any reason such as "pesticide resistance", "spread of GMOs" and "protection of biodiversity", and also socio-economic reasons "linked to their contamination".

The MEPs believe such measures "would provide improved legal protection" agains possible conflicts with the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and that they "would complement the role of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in the assessment of the consequences of GMOs on health and the environment." According to the MEPs, the proposal "does not challenge the internal market."

"This vote is a clear signal sent by the Parliament to the Council and the Commission (...) This proposal will empower (Member States) with a stronger legal basis, which is one of the Council’s main concerns regarding the initial text of the European Commission", said the text's rapporteur Corinne Lepage.

From his side, Jose Bove MEP( Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance) andthe Vice-President of the Agriculture Commitee, welcomed "more restrictive measures on co-existence and the responsibility of the polluter who pays" which are specified in the proposal. But he nevertheless regrets “the possibility of a contamination threshold for seeds” and believes, on the contrary, that the proposal fails to address the problems raised by contamination and traceability in the functioning of the EU internal market. “There still remain the major legal vulnerabilities described in the opinions of the Parliament’s and Council’s legal departments, which will apparently leave Member States isolated when under attack via the WTO lawsuits they will inevitably face from, for example, the USA or Argentina.”

The European Parliament must pronounce itself in plenary on the first reading of the proposal on 7 June. It will have to find a compromise with the EU Council on the European project. The Environment Ministers did not reach an agreement on 14 March on the list of reasons to justify national bans submitted by the Commission. This list is now being examined by the Council. Its legal department must also submit an analysis on the issue of the proposal's compatibility with the rules of the WTO and the internal market.